/ppg/ - Pen & Pencil General

4chan has for years had a Pen and Pencil General. This entry is a compilation of the insight and experiences from this general. Past discussions can be found on Desuarchive. This general goes back to 2013.

Pens

Ballpoint

• Uni-ball jetstream
• Fisher space pen

Gel

• Uni-ball 207
• Pilot g2
• Zebra sarasa
• Sakura gelly roll

Rollerball

• Pilot Precise V5
• uni-ball Vision Elite

Fineliner

• Sakura pigma micron
• Pilot Razor Point I/II
• Sharpie Pen (original)

Pencils

Wooden Pencils

With Erasers

Cheap

• Palomino Golden Bear

Mid priced

• Mitsubishi 9850

Expensive

• Palomino blackwing 602 or natural

Without Eraser

Mid priced

• Mitsubishi 9800

Expensive

• Mitsubishi hi-uni
• Tombow mono 100

Wooden Art Pencils

Cheap

• General Pencil Kimberly Graphite Drawing Kit

Expensive

• Mitsubishi hi uni art set
• Caran d'Ache Grafwood set

Mechanical Pencils

There are self rotating mechanical pencils, AKA auto lead rotating mechanical pencils, that rotates the lead in such a way that the point is always sharp.

Drafting pencils

Cheap

• Pentel p205

Mid priced

• Rotring 500
• Pentel graphgear 500

Writing mechanical pencils

• ???

Leads for drafting or writing

• Pilot Neox

Lead holder

• Staedtler Mars Techo 780c

Leads for leadholder

• Mitsubishi uni

Fountain Pens

Considerations & General Advice

Prior to purchasing your first fountain pen, you should try to ask yourself the following questions:

• How large or small of a pen would be comfortable for my hand, Material?
• what sort of writing characteristics am i looking for?
• User experience beyond overall writing

The first point sound obvious but can be tricky to get correct without physically being in a store. A larger pen will typically be easier to grip and relax wrist issues much more then a thin stenographers pen. Weight isn't generally an issue unless it's oversized or if the construction is all metal.

• Plastic quality increases with price.
• Pens with metal grips may cause grip slipping if it doesn't have knurling or flared stoppers.
• Pens made from ebonite or HBR has an odor that some find unpleasant.

Second point involves the writing itself. The nib takes center stage here together with the feed. A steel nib will always be as hard as a nail (unless otherwise stated) when in contact with the paper while gold nibs will have a slight softness that cushions your writing. Contrary to what is commonly told, a gold nib will not be smoother nor have magical penmanship increasing powers as the tipping material that actually contacts the paper, iridium, is the same as on steel nibs.

The feed regulates in ink flow coming out of the nib, the two polar ends being called "wet" (higher ink flow) and "dry" (low ink flow).

• A wet pen will typically feel smoother, and showcase inks better, although a direct consequence is that more ink is placed onto the paper. More ink = higher drying time / pools on paper
• A dry pen will typically have a pencil-like feedback when writing and channel less ink which may result issues with ink skipping.

Inks also come in "wet" and "dry" which can have a further multiplying effect.

Experience beyond writing involves how easy the pen maintenance/filling is and can extend to warranty as well has customer service of the company. As general maintenance practice, pens should be flushed with water every six month to clean out the feed though this frequency will change depending on situation. If you're changing inks or use certain inks such as permanent inks, they will need to be flushed with water sooner.

For the filling system considerations include:

• how well does it flush?
• how much ink it fills?
• how easy it is to fill?

Company warranty and overall customer service can be summed up as follows:

• Italian bad
• American generally good
• Japan is above average to very good
• Europe is hit or miss

Companies may not provide services for purchases made from non authorized retailers.

Recommendations

These pens are a good starting point. Japanese pens will be cheaper if you import directly from japan and if you're on a budget remember to factor in ink costs.

Bargin

Pens starting from $0 to roughly around $15, You get what you pay for in this category, plastic will feel a tad flimsy.

• JinHao

• 777 - A lamy safari clone
• 992 - Pilot piera clone
• 100 "Centennial" - Parker duofold clone

• Platinum

• Preppy/meteor
• Plaisir/Prefounte

• pilot

• varsity
• Kakuno

Entry

Very good value for money with pens starting from $15 to roughly $75

• Lamy safari
• Twsbi eco
• Penbbs 480

Fountain pen ink

• Pilot

Pilot fountain pen ink is the standard line of ink pilot produces. Comes in blue, blue-black, black. WARNING: Document black and Drafting black are for dip nib only and should not be used in a fountain pen. 70ml in the standard jar but you can buy a 350ml bottle for drinking.

Pilot Iroshizuku is the premium line of inks. They were among the highest priced inks when first released but these days they're the cheapest japanese inks. Large variety of colors and shades to chose from. 50ml standard size jar with sample sized 15ml bottles.

• Sailor

Basic line is just called Sailor Ink with no frills. In blue, Blue-black, and black 50ml, same with the Pigmented inks (permanent).

Shikiori and Manyo are the sailor equivalent to the Pilot Iroshizuku. Shikiori come in 20ml only and Manyo in 50ml only.

In addition to the two lines, Sailor produces a large amount of other inks and inks not under Sailors name (Bungbox for example is made by Sailor). Any old reference to sailor Jentle inks should be ignored, it's a discontinued line with some of the colors absorbed by the Shikiori.

• Diamine

• Waterman

Most famed for it's Watermans Serenity Blue which together with Lamy blue hold the title of most well behaved, safest and low maintenance ink to use. Works in virtually any scenario. Come in 50ml and available at most retailers. Waterman also has a FAQ.